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Given the tone of this thread, seems like he made the right decision.
posted to MetaFilter by gwint at 8:38 AM on August 30, 2018

I could care less if people sneak around the NYT paywall but dear god if I never have to hear "cancel your subscription" again it will be too soon

I have to say that I have been tempted in my more petty moments to, whenever I post the sort of informative NYT article that everyone takes for granted*, append a "Renew. Your. Subscription." to my comment just to draw attention to how much of what we discuss comes from NYT.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by a snickering nuthatch at 12:14 AM on August 23, 2018

Here's a crazy idea. What if part of membership came with access to a few resources like the NYT? What if those of us who could afford it created a new level of membership where part of the membership fees helped fund access for the whole community to quality resources like WaPo, the NYT, and supported resources like ProPublica, NPR, or the Guardian? What if we acted like an institution of higher learning and negotiated for access and supported these kinds of organizations, not as individuals,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Stanczyk at 2:53 PM on August 22, 2018

Those same threads are not very supportive of the idea of giving NYT money: what are we to do?

We could attempt to explain how one could not consider the NYT worthy of one's financial support, and yet routinely read more than the allotted free articles every single month since November.

(Seriously: if you don't want to support the NYT financially, that's a valid choice. So stop reading, or pay up after you are done reading for free.)
posted to MetaTalk by DarlingBri at 12:15 PM on August 22, 2018

First thing I'd be doing in your circumstances is figure out exactly how much I disliked being employed where I was, using the following method:

1. Consider adopting a procedure where you commit to flipping some number of coins every single day and, if they all come up heads, you hand in your notice and start looking for work elsewhere.

2. How many coins would you need to use in order to make this procedure not feel completely stupid and reckless?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by flabdablet at 2:01 AM on August 28, 2018

Up or out. People gotta live somewhere. Better up into highrises instead of out into sprawling suburbia chewing up wildlife habitat and putting a more climate-wrecking cars on the road.
posted to MetaFilter by Jacqueline at 11:30 AM on August 27, 2018

This has to do with grade inflation in the humanities, and the essential disputability of humanities grading.

This also affects the humanities skills that non-majors have. I taught freshman composition for two years, and the grading guidelines handed down to us pretty much ensured that that all of my students would pass as long as they showed up and turned in their assignments.

The students also expect that they, personally,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Kutsuwamushi at 7:06 AM on August 24, 2018

I would have loved to have taken a less vocational major than CS myself but I had a kid to raise and a mortgage to pay. Getting a degree in something like the humanities is a luxury most of us can't afford.

As others have noted, half of the article is about this perception being wrong. My sense from talking to parents and students over and over and ooooovvvveerrrrr again is that people tend to fundamentally misunderstand the ways in which majors and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:04 AM on August 24, 2018

I was never happier to not win a Hugo.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:07 AM on August 21, 2018

I found Robin DiAngelo's commencement speech when I graduated from Lewis and Clark last year to be amazing and inspiring. (There's a long intro--her actual speech starts at like 3:15) She was very inclusive and honest and insightful about the lived realities of folks from backgrounds who weren't expected to go to college/grad school--including herself. She focuses on race as well as class, so it's not entirely focused on your question but might still be a powerful resource.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by overglow at 11:22 AM on July 17, 2018

I think we would all like each other more if we spent more time talking about what we really care about.

I think you might be on to something when you speculate that we might like each other more if we knew more about each other. I generally like learning about people. In my experience, those conversational prompts you listed just aren't a particularly promising way to go about it.

I mean, I could probably talk about lots... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sohalt at 10:44 AM on August 19, 2018

If our country had to pick only one person to represent us to extraterrestrial aliens in a first encounter, I’d pick Carter.

The Voyager Golden Record contains a statement by Jimmy Carter. I reproduce it in its entirety here:

This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BrashTech at 11:21 AM on August 18, 2018

Like so many things on the internet, we could find complaints and anecdotes galore

This is a super common complaint. I'm not the one to do this, so I'll just throw it out there. Isn't it a bit trivial to replace a pocket with a bigger one? It's like a five minute job. Not for me, not for a lot of people, but for someone with the skills.

So you set up WEWANTPOCKETS.COM. You could get your pants sent via them, so when they get... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by adept256 at 3:45 PM on August 16, 2018

You absolutely should use a gym and never do this at home again.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by shesbenevolent at 7:16 AM on August 13, 2018

I’ve dated a lot. Younger. Older. Tall. Short. Et cetera.

I’ve learned that whenever a man stops being consistent with me in communication, interest has been lost. It was definitely always a red flag for me. Ghosting someone, I’ve found, is their way of leaving the door open for a later return. Everyone who has done this to me has come back at some point in the future (one was yeaaaarrrsss later — I didn’t even remember him!).

I’m sorry to say... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by AlexandriaParis at 3:34 PM on August 13, 2018 marked best answer

Hey, it's me in a There is No Cabal t-shirt! And it's Secretariat in the small seal version! And it's both of us while we're at it!

If you got one and you're down with sharing a picture, go for, and let me know about experiences with fit and quality etc as well.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 5:03 PM on August 8, 2018

80,000 miles is about 120,000 miles short of the normal lifespan of a honda civic. If the insurance will cover the body work beyond the deductible, then you're looking at something like $1500 - $1750 for the body work + the alternator. That's not a lot of money to keep the car running for a few more years. I would pay it, personally, unless I really wanted a new car.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dis_integration at 10:55 AM on August 9, 2018 marked best answer

Today was a perfectly lovely and unplanned day in Seattle. We have two huge garden boxes in our little urban homestead and they’re overflowing with color and fresh vegetables right now. I’m determined to use it all and not to let anything rot on the plant this year. There is something mystical about creating food out of plants that you grew. I remember my grandfather having a huge veggie garden in the Michigan woods and then my dad doing the same when I was a kid. I relandscaped when my kids... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Slarty Bartfast at 9:57 PM on August 4, 2018

I have a patio full of dead plants in pots. Some of the big pots on the North end of the patio are now piles of dirt, dead plant, and potsherds, because my son has hit them with his car trying to park.

But that's not what I want to talk about.

Late last night I told the (long) story about the time I gave birth unassisted at home in response to an AskMe. That birth always gives rise to some complicated feelings, because above all, I got my... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by pH Indicating Socks at 4:39 PM on August 4, 2018

....Funny, I had no problem ascertaining that by "no you dont have a book in you" that "you most likely will not be able to market your book", and the tone didn't bother me at all.

Are all y'all frustrated writers?
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos at 3:27 PM on August 1, 2018

I see very little mention of philanthropy, either in your original question or the responses here. Perhaps, because there has been multi-generational wealth in your family, there is already a culture and tradition of philanthropy, but if there isn't, you should start one. This will not be a ridiculous amount of money they're coming into, but it will be enough to enable the kids to be generous and purposeful in their giving. Teach them the value and necessity of philanthropy, help them to choose... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by beagle at 6:53 AM on July 29, 2018

We have a romantic history that has played out in nonstop conversation over several decades.

Really? You've been having a decades-long emotional affair with a married man? Do you think you're the only one he's been carrying on with all these years? I'd bet $$$ you're one of many.

Your post makes me painfully sad for you. You refer to him as "your partner". Honey .. he's not your partner. He's not even divorced yet.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Kangaroo at 4:13 AM on July 28, 2018

IAAP.

Our relationship is too tenuous for me to reach out to him

Unless he said something like "HOLAG, it was nice to meet you but our relationship is too tenuous for any further contact that is not strictly required by our jobs," or was an overt dickhead to you, this very very probably isn't so.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:58 AM on July 26, 2018

That was a delightfully accurate essay. I grew up on the coast east of Orlando, then spent a decade in the city before moving to Seattle. Good post timing too—I’ve wrapped up my trans-Continental bicycle tour from Seattle to Titusville, Florida and am even now on the train back.

She absolutely nails the tone and bizarre flavor of central Florida. And Kitteh’s entirely right about north Florida. It feels very much its own southern beast, less influenced by the population... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by los pantalones del muerte at 4:36 PM on July 24, 2018

I too treat USB drives the way I treat vinyl albums: I threw most of them away and keep a few around for mostly nostalgic reasons
posted to MetaFilter by signal at 1:51 PM on July 22, 2018

I mean, if you told me you work at a bank, and then wouldn't say which one, I'm going to assume you don't work for a bank and you're trying to run some kind of scam on me.

If you don't want to say because the answer is dull, dull is fine, everyones work is dull. Exchange dull pleasantries and then move on, just like anybody else. If its because of company policy, the company will surely have some sort of guidelines for these situations. If its because they're not likely... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by rodlymight at 8:28 PM on July 20, 2018

OK, if this was just some dude, or even a mere peer at work, I would be enthusiastically signing on to the advice about ghosting on him. It's not that I don't agree with the analyses of the dynamic, or at least the potential dynamic.

However, having been in some of these intense work environments where you spend a ton of time around each other, I have to say that people acting as if you can just cut this guy off or stiff-arm him away without consequences the way you... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by praemunire at 9:10 AM on July 19, 2018

OP, in his eyes you are not a friend.

The way he is treating you is not how friends treat each other, inside or outside of work.

You are something of a love interest, or a "possibility", or some other form of female that exists in his world to meet his emotional needs. You do not have needs in his eyes; your needs are inconvenient, bothersome, unwelcome, brutal.

He is... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by vignettist at 8:10 AM on July 19, 2018

If the only bad thing that has happened at the new job is that one comment, then I think you are overreacting somewhat (understandably based on prior experience). People assume (correctly) that I am Jewish based on my appearance and name and sometimes make somewhat weird comments revealing that they have assumed this. (Frequently, though, it is Jews who do this!) It's off-putting, and probably stereotyping, but not what I would call anti-Semitic, which I would associate with animosity or... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Mid at 11:27 AM on July 18, 2018

isn't this defining an invalid structure? so there's no correct rendering, and the browsers are free to display it however they like. ("html" is table display, and "body" is table-cell display, but there's no table-row containing the table-cell)
posted to MetaFilter by russm at 8:34 PM on July 10, 2018

I had to read a few times to understand what you were asking and to understand the response.

Yep, I didn't understand your question either. And, to be fair, I think the general answer is what most other people have been saying which is that people don't really read carefully or don't care that much if they give you a good answer so much as they want to get your email out of their "to answer" list. But, you wanted to know how you could... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jessamyn at 4:42 PM on July 9, 2018 marked best answer

Can someone explain this to me? I'm just a caveman.

ugg have big pile of tablets with stories
ugg need to store stories somewhere and be able to find story quickly to impress other uggs
pile of tablets too big for tent
too big for cave
too big for all caves
ugg say why not develop concepts of algorithms and programming and complex material societal and technical systems to allow ugg to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lalochezia at 7:36 AM on July 8, 2018

Thank you for this post. I am intimately involved with the Seattle homeless population professionally, and am affected by the issue because, like many residents near the city center, I am surrounded by homeless encampments. I had read the Atlantic article previously and our neighborhood listservs are basically “grar! More tent cities discovered! I called the police and nothing happened!” Importantly, the people complaining the loudest about homelessness are not the new money immigrants, but the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Slarty Bartfast at 10:59 PM on July 5, 2018

Folks around here in Akron aren't too upset about it this time around, mostly because LeBron brought a championship to town, but also because he didn't announce his decision this time like a jackass by humiliating us with an hour-long televised masturbation video.
posted to MetaFilter by slogger at 11:31 AM on July 2, 2018

Bluntly speaking, I think you're a better person than he may be, and you deserve someone as caring, empathetic and conscientious as you clearly are.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by vers at 11:28 AM on July 2, 2018

A few years ago a friend and I were on a road trip from New England to California; during the first day's driving, while passing through a part of New Hampshire unfamiliar to both of us, the conversation turned to childhood memories of Walt Disney World, and we briefly toyed with the possibility of changing our travel plans and heading there instead. We were both intrigued by the idea, but hesitant to change our plans on the spur of the moment. After some back-and-forth we agreed to put the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by DiscountDeity at 11:13 AM on June 26, 2018

Whoops, guess I should have answered my own questions: I'm running for a seat on the Ports, Waterways and Beaches commission in St. Augustine, FL, my platform is JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THE SEA IS RISING UP TO KILL US WHY AREN'T WE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT, and so far it's been a B+ experience at best.
posted to MetaTalk by saladin at 6:55 AM on June 25, 2018

I talked with Nunk for about an hour and a half last night; about the question, this thread, what the Best Answers are, and where that leaves us.

I also recorded it, and I think it makes a nice, kinda entertaining postmortem. It's edited down to 22 minutes and uploaded here: direct link to mp3. (Note there's a bit of salty language in there.) I'm marking all the best answers we talked about here too.

Thanks for resolving this. I love you... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by churl at 8:34 PM on May 10, 2011

Speaking as a public employee, I'm surprised at the reaction here. Having selected employee information being public data (including salary and contact details) is one of the occupational hazards of the job.

In my city, one of our daily papers makes it a thing to every few years write an article about and post a link to the online databases of public employee information, based on the public's right to know. Yeah, they have a right to know my job title, my work address... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Lunaloon at 12:52 PM on June 21, 2018

A fun karaoke innovation someone introduced me to last week: you know how sometimes you'll accidentally pick a song with a massively long break in it, and you're just standing there like a moron? Tell a joke. The cornier the better. See if you can time the punchline for right before the lyrics start up again. So fun.
posted to MetaTalk by showbiz_liz at 8:46 AM on June 18, 2018

arcticseal: "Did anyone record this for posterity?"

And I said, did anyone record for posterity?
And he said, don't think so, I really I hope not
As I recall I think the bar kind of liked it
And he said, well, we were all kind of drunk
posted to MetaTalk by capricorn at 4:29 PM on June 14, 2018

From the link, I expected it to be "Wear clothes." but the actual one is fine too.

Wear clothes. Not too much. Mostly plants.
posted to MetaFilter by lollusc at 7:33 AM on June 16, 2018

I feel like you're approaching this with probably too much focus and intent. My experience is that meaningful relationships are things that tend to sneak up on you, rather than through detailed management of logistics. That's not to say that cultivating the circumstances where relationships can emerge is a bad idea, on the contrary, you're doing exactly the right thing in that regard. But, as Wobbuffet says, approaching this particular interaction with a complex plan before you've even... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by howfar at 2:53 AM on June 16, 2018 marked best answer

I did the Konmari thing a year ago and was quite surprised that the life-changing magic was true for me:

I am SO much happier in an uncluttered house, surrounded entirely by things that I love.

I feel like a million bucks every time I get dressed (seriously--so many more compliments on how I look, when I lived with the 10% of my wardrobe that made me look and feel fabulous.)

The habit of recreationally shopping went... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Sublimity at 4:47 PM on June 14, 2018 marked best answer

I'm still digesting this thorough post, but I just want to say I really appreciate the transparency here and the commitment to work through these issues, both financial and site culture, as a community.
posted to MetaTalk by zachlipton at 4:13 PM on June 13, 2018

Okay, I'll start. I've never given to Metafilter before but this place has meant a lot to me for so many years. So in honor of that I'll donate $1 for every favorite this post gets.

Shameless favorite-currying? Perhaps. But I will back it up with cash.
posted to MetaTalk by mai at 4:08 PM on June 13, 2018

Going to a couples' counselor together implies that there are components of your marriage/relationship that are salvageable or can be worked on.

This isn't true. Many couples use counselors to help them work through the emotional issues of breaking up. Counselors can't/shouldn't be giving legal advice, but they can certainly help navigate the grieving/ending/good-bye/transition process. Certain counselors are more skilled or experienced with that than... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lazuli at 7:11 AM on June 8, 2018

Be ready to leave. That is the only leverage you have.

This is true -- as an individual. But the balance of power changes when we organize. Software engineers have traditionally been loath to organize, but that's starting to change, and situations like yours demonstrate one of the many reasons that it needs to. As a remote employee and someone who hasn't been at the company long, it's probably going to be even more of an uphill battle, but I think... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ludwig_van at 10:31 AM on June 4, 2018

Microsoft's new support for Linux and open source is very good and seems sincere. I use Windows Services for Linux every single day; it basically lets you run a full Ubuntu system on your Windows machine, without virtualization. It's great. Across the whole company Microsoft has moved to more open source software, for instance switching the Windows code to git last year. It's a very different culture than 10 years ago.

I appreciate what you're saying,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Gaffer at 7:55 AM on June 4, 2018

I am always stunned by metafilter's tendency to leap at "this doesn't immediately solve any problems, why bother", when otherwise the site is pretty pro-science and progressive. I think it should be apparent, by this point in time in human history, that a significant amount of innovation comes by way of accidents/useless findings, and in order to create that innovation, it's really helpful to just have a culture of "fuck it, try anything and see what happens".
posted to MetaFilter by FirstMateKate at 1:56 PM on June 3, 2018